Report: Goodell's Ruling On Brady Could Come Next Week

BOSTON (CBS) -- On Wednesday evening, CNBC's Jess Golden tweeted a photo of NFL commissioner Roger Goodell and Patriots owner Robert Kraft taking a stroll, as both are attendees of the Sun Valley conference in Idaho.

But more than just a photograph came out of the Sun Valley conference. Reporters also got a bit of a scoop.

Golden's colleague, Julia Boorstin, reported on Thursday morning that Goodell will announce his ruling on Tom Brady's hearing "soon." Specifically, it could possibly come next week.

As for that causal walk with Kraft on Wednesday, Goodell said that "DeflateGate" was not a point of discussion.

Goodell heard Brady's appeal on June 23 in the NFL's New York offices, a session that ran over 10 hours long.

Brady is, of course, appealing the four-game suspension issued to him after NFL-hired investigator Ted Wells deemed Brady to be "at least generally aware" of Patriots employees' manipulating the footballs. Wells ruled that illegal deflation was "more likely than not" to have taken place.

Speculation as to when Goodell might announce his ruling has run rampant since the end of that hearing, as some have believed Goodell will wait until the start date of training camp draws near, thereby making Brady's next decision -- whether to accept the punishment or fight it through the court system -- a bit more difficult to make. Yet according to this report, Goodell won't wait until the end of the month.

In:
• Robert Kraft
• NFL
• Tom Brady
• Roger Goodell
• deflategate